


Magnolia Martinsson and The Piece of Cake

by missdibley



Series: East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon [15]
Category: Magnus Martinsson - Fandom, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom, Wallander (UK TV), Wallander - All Media Types, wallander
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 20:52:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4114572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missdibley/pseuds/missdibley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A one-shot I dreamt up this morning. This takes place some time in the future of my version of Magnus Martinsson and my OFC Halla Roque.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Magnolia Martinsson and The Piece of Cake

“Mama?”

Magnolia Bettina Martinsson, known as Maggy since birth, sat at the dining room table in an old house somewhere on the Northwest Side of Chicago. She pressed her fork into the cake crumbs on her favorite plate, waiting until the tines had captured just the right amount before sticking it her mouth.

“Yes, Maggy?”

“What’s Papa doing?” Maggy scraped the crumbs that had fallen out of her mouth while she talked and deposited them on her plate. She sipped milk from the cup in front of her.

Maggy and her mother watched Maggy’s father walk around the table, through to the living room, around the bend through the lounge, into the kitchen, and then back to the dining room. He came to a sudden stop by his chair. Gripping the back of his chair, he ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes.

“He’s thinking.” Halla sipped her tea. She didn’t touch the slice of cake sitting in front of her. “He’s wondering.” She leaned over to ruffle her daughter’s hair.

“What’s he wondering about?”

“I think I have a pretty good –”

“Halla. Darling.” Magnus opened his eyes and peered at his wife.

“Hmm?” Halla set down her tea, then looked up at her husband. She wore a patient expression on her face.

“My new glasses. Have you seen them?”

“No, my darling. I have not seen your glasses.”

“Are you quite sure?” Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Dearest, I see a lot of things in the course of my day. The Sheahans, for example, just got a new chicken and have promised Maggy the first egg she lays. I also saw that the hipster couple around the corner  are now only wearing purple. But no, not your glasses.” Halla shook her head.

Magnus huffed. “But you know where everything is in this house.”

Halla shrugged. “Apparently I don’t.”

“I think you do.”

“Are you accusing me of lying to you?” Halla scoffed, then chuckled before taking another sip of tea.

“Mama doesn’t lie!” Maggy piped up.

Her outburst startled Magnus, who looked down at his daughter. He took in her dark eyes and button nose, the mop of brown curls and round cheeks. She had crumbs stuck to her face. When she looked serious, as she did now, she looked like Magnus. When she smiled, something she did often, she looked exactly like Halla.

“No. No, Mama doesn’t.” Magnus sounded careful. He sat down in his chair. “But I think Mama could help me a little better than she is right this minute.”

Halla snorted into her cup. Magnus grimaced at her.

“I had them last night when I was reading and then this morning they were gone. Which was fine except I have work to do and I can’t do my work if I can’t read and if I can’t read…”

While Magnus continued to rant, Halla turned to look at her daughter. She raised her eyebrow, then leaned in close to Maggy.

“You know where to go?” Halla whispered.

Maggy thought about what just happened, remembering the conversation and her father stomping around and her mother sipping tea but not eating her cake. Which confused her as the cake was the best part of supper and why hadn’t her mother eaten it yet?

Focus, Maggy, focus, she thought.

Papa was reading because he had to work. So where does Papa read? Where does Papa work?

Maggy figured it out. She stuck her head under the table.

“Moomin!” At the sound of his name, the wire fox terrier that had been napping under her legs popped up. He sniffed the air, then stretched his legs.

When Maggy hopped off her chair, the little dog followed her. They scrambled up the stairs, down the hall, and into the room her parents used as their office. The long table that served as their shared desk split the room in two.

Halla’s end was occupied by a laptop, and a mirrored tray which held a blue and white pencil cup, two tubes of red lipstick, and a gold frame bearing two photographs: one black and white picture showing an aunt and uncle Maggy had never known standing in front of a Ferris wheel; the other showing Maggy’s parents standing in front of the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier, taken long before Maggy was born.

Magnus’s end also held a computer, but that was where the resemblance to his wife’s side ended. Books and papers, wires and small gadgets in various states of repair, stood in piles around his laptop. They threatened to slide onto the floor.

Maggy began to dig. First she moved a book, then some paper. A few sheets fell on the floor. Moomin sniffed, then ignored them. Maggy found a magazine and, underneath its pages, the glasses her papa had been talking about. Tucking them into her pocket, she returned the fallen papers to the stack on her father’s desk, called for Moomin to join her, and returned downstairs.

In the dining room, Halla stood next to her husband, running her fingers through his hair. He was sitting and eating the piece of cake that Halla had been saving for them to share.

“Maggy?” Halla said. She looked up at the sound of their daughter returning to the first floor of the house.

“Yes, Mama?”

“You found Papa’s glasses?” Halla tucked a stray lock of Magnus’s hair behind his ear.

“Yes, Mama.”

“Good girl.” Magnus said. “Bring them here?”

Maggy shuffled forward and placed the glasses on the table. She looked up at her mother, who beamed at her. Maggy beamed right back.

Magnus looked at the glasses, then at her. He got up from his seat and swept Maggy into his arms.

“Thank you!” Magnus leaned in to kiss his daughter’s cheek, but instead decided to blow a raspberry instead.

“Papa!” Maggy squealed, then wiggled out of his touch. “Can Moomin and I go play in the yard?”

“Ask Mama.” Halla nodded, so the girl and her dog made for the kitchen door. Before going outside, Maggy realized she wanted to get a juice box from the refrigerator. She let the dog out, then turned back to ask her mother. She peeked around the kitchen door to listen to her parents talking.

“When did you figure it out?” Maggy heard her mother say.

“As soon as Maggy ran up the stairs.” Magnus picked up Halla’s tea and took a sip.

“Was that the first time you were beaten by a 7 year old?” Halla leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Do you think that will be the last?”

Maggy stifled a giggle.

Magnus grumbled something she couldn’t make out. She could tell, though, from the light in his eyes and her mother’s smile that neither of them were cross. Not anymore.

Halla reached towards the plate and took a piece of cake for herself. As she popped it into her mouth, a smaller piece broke off and bounced off her leg before hitting the floor.

“Oh, let me.” Magnus pushed his chair back so he could kneel at his wife’s feet. He plucked the cake from the floor, and looked up to find a few crumbs and some sugar stuck to his wife’s skirt. He looked up to find Halla gazing at him.

Magnus brushed his fingers across the crumbs, wiping them onto the floor. As he did, he pressed gently, feeling the warmth of his wife’s thigh through the fabric.

Halla released a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. Magnus stood up and brought his wife into his arms. He smiled down at her before kissing her.

“Delicious,” he whispered. He kissed her again.

“Do you mean the cake?” Halla nipped at his jaw. “Or… me?”

“Either. Both.” He considered. “Definitely both.” He leaned down to kiss his wife again.

Maggy stifled a giggle and slipped outside to play. But not before she helped herself to a juice box.


End file.
